Free Fury Rising by Jeyn Roberts Page A

to human, albeit the whole thing being temporary. Daniel had confirmed everything, admitting to Aries that being around her kept him human. As if something inside of Aries, some sort of power, somehow, trumped the darkness inside.
    She was a freak in a world of killers. And she still had no idea how to control it.
    Why had she come back? Maybe because she kept hoping to find a clue to how Daniel’s mind worked. If she could understand the Baggers, if she kept working on whatever strange power she possessed, maybe she could find a cure for him. For all of them.
    “I want to help you,” Aries said.
    Olive dropped her package of crackers and her fingers wrapped around Aries’ wrist. The Bagger screeched, pulling Aries forward.
    This was always the hardest thing to do, the moment when Aries didn’t know what was going to happen. Around her, there was no guarantee that the Bagger would stay normal. They tended to go back and forth. The lack of control was the hardest part. If only Aries could figure out how she did it.
    Because if she couldn’t control it, there was no guarantee it would always work.
    Olive’s fingers tightened, yanking Aries hard. She brought the baseball bat around, ready to use it before the Bagger managed to get her nails into Aries’ eyes.
    At the last second, Olive’s grip loosened. Aries didn’t pull herself free. Instead, she took the woman’s hands and held tightly.
    “I used to have a daughter. A pretty girl. So pretty. Five years old. Had bright blonde hair like her father.”
    The eyes that looked up at Aries were blue and clear.
    Aries waited.
    “I killed her. Right after the earthquakes. I took her tiny skull and crushed it.”
    “You didn’t mean to do it,” Aries said. “It’s not your fault.”
    “When you’re around me, you make me remember. Over and over. I can’t turn off my mind.” The woman leaned back against the wooden beam. “If you really want to help me. Kill me. Leaving me like this, this is crueler than anything I could ever do to you.”
    “I’m sorry.”
    “No, you’re not. If you were, you’d let me die. You’d kill all of us.”
     

Clementine
     
     
    “Who’s bright idea was this again?”
    “Yours.”
    “Right. Next time just smack me over the head and knock some sense into me.”
    “With a head that thick, I wouldn’t even make a dent.”
    “So use a drill.”
    “You want me to drill you?”
    “Well, yeah. Duh.”
    Clementine turned and grinned at the boy beside her. Michael’s hair was pulled back in a ponytail. She couldn’t get over how long it had grown over the past six months. Halfway down his back, she liked it best when he let her run her fingers through it. Her own personal rock star.
    Dear Heath. I know I don’t talk to you as much as I used to. I’m sorry, but it’s not like you’re really listening. At least I hope not because that suggests something a lot worse than I want to consider. But I think you’d like Michael. He’s not like the guys I used to date. We won’t talk about them either. But Michael is different. I hope you get to meet him one day. Just don’t threaten to beat him up like you did with Mark Westerberg back in fourth grade. I’ve never forgiven you for that one.
    “Speaking of knocks to the head, I could really go for a nap right about now,” Michael said as he stifled a yawn. “We might as well find a place to curl up. Can’t do anything until it gets dark anyway.”
    “Let’s go check our target first,” she suggested. “Make sure everything’s in order.”
    “Really?” Michael yawned again. “It’s going to be the same as the last time and the time before that. We know this place inside and out. All systems go. Operative status is first class, soldier.”
    “I love it when you talk nonsense to me.”
    “All we need to do is pop in the back for a bit. Lots of blankets. Some romantic music. Might even be a candle or two.”
    Clementine shifted in the passenger seat. Part of her